(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin carbon plate and a process for producing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a thin carbon plate excellent in properties such as gas impermeability, mechanical strengths and the like, as well as to a process for producing the same.
(2) Prior Art
Carbon materials have properties not possessed by other materials, such as excellent heat resistance, chemical stability, light-weight and the like. Therefore, they have been used as a special electrode agent, various jigs, a sealing agent, a separator for a fuel cell, etc. and moreover are finding wider usages.
Various additional requirements for higher performances have recently become necessary for carbon materials having excellent properties as mentioned above. That is, there has become necessary a thin carbon plate excellent in gas impermeability, mechanical strengths, etc.
Conventional thin carbon plates have been obtained by impregnating a high-density graphite with a phenolic resin, or binding a carbon powder with a resin, or carbonizing a phenolic or furan resin, or adding a graphite powder or a carbon fiber to a phenolic or furan resin and carbonizing the resulting mixture. These conventional thin carbon plates, however, have low mechanical strengths or low gas impermeability when made into a thin plate.